


Breathe

by ivory_keys



Category: One Direction (Band)
Genre: Asthma, Hero Liam, Hurt/Comfort, Lirry - Freeform, Love Confessions, M/M, Sick Harry, Sickfic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-01-05
Updated: 2016-01-05
Packaged: 2018-05-12 00:51:03
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,292
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5647870
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ivory_keys/pseuds/ivory_keys
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Harry has an asthma attack while making out with Liam and is too embarrassed to stop. Liam realizes this a little too late and has to come to Harry's rescue.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Breathe

**Author's Note:**

  * For [alleycat35](https://archiveofourown.org/users/alleycat35/gifts).



While Harry stood in front of the door fumbling in his pocket for his keys, Liam reached around his waist, hugging him from behind. He shifted his weight, lightly rocking Harry from side to side.

Harry laughed. “That’s not helping Li.”

Liam reached into Harry’s pocket and fingered around for the keys.

Harry bit his lip to hold back a moan. “That’s not helping either. When I invited you to come over and see my new flat, I thought you’d wait until we at least got inside before you’d try to mount me.”

Harry and Liam’s relationship hadn’t gotten to _that_ point yet, but Harry was looking forward to making out with his new boyfriend all the same.

Liam’s finger looped around the key ring and slid the keys out of Harry’s pocket. “Sorry mate. I got a little carried away. You deserve a proper house warming.”

Harry turned the key in the lock and pushed the door open. “It’s not a house warming. I moved in last week. It’s just your first time here. I thought that we – .”

Liam lifted Harry into his arms bridal style midsentence and carried him over the threshold. Liam readjusted his hands under Harry to get a better grip, bouncing him in the air a bit. “Are you going to give me the tour, home owner?”

Harry laughed. “As you carry me? I don’t have objections to that. This is the front vestibule. It’s the first area of the house that you walk into.”

Liam smiled. “Vestibule, huh? That sounds fancy.”

Harry giggled. “It’s not. It’s just the front of the house.” Harry’s arms were around Liam’s neck, so he used his head to point out the next room. “To the right is the kitchen, to the left is the living room, and the bedroom and bathroom are back there.”

Liam frowned. “That was a quick tour.”

Harry put his hands on the sides of Liam’s face. “I have more important things that I want to get to.”

Harry pressed his lips against Liam’s as Liam pressed Harry closer to his chest. Liam moved his arms and Harry rearranged himself to straddling Liam as he kissed him with more gusto. Liam walked Harry to the kitchen counter and sat him down on top of it. The counter was low enough for Liam to have a height advantage over the normally taller Harry.

Liam leaned down as Harry looked up. Liam couldn’t help but see Harry’s legs shaking. He figured it was from anticipation until he saw Harry’s hands shaking as well.

Liam took Harry’s hand and give it a kiss. “You don’t have to be nervous.”

Harry blushed. “I’m not nervous.”

“Good.”

Liam tilted his head and gently kissed Harry’s neck. Harry gasped as the heat of Liam’s breath tickled against the skin of his neck.

Harry gasped again as Liam’s lips rolled against his skin, but this gasp didn’t deliver a rush of air to his lungs like the first time. This gasp left Harry breathless. He closed his eyes and tried to slowly force air into lungs. A tiny wheeze was all he could manage and instead of a deep breath, it felt as if he were breathing through a straw.

Liam was too preoccupied with peppering Harry’s chest with kisses to notice.

Harry’s heart began to race as his throat closed up even tighter. Liam noticed the quick paced thudding of Harry’s heart against the palm of his hand and smiled. “Pace yourself Styles or we’re going to have to stop.”

The last thing Harry wanted to do was stop, so he adjusted to the minimal amount of oxygen that he was getting. He took shallow breathes, short and painful, hoping Liam wouldn’t notice.

Harry was fully aware that he was having an asthma attack, but the thought of having to stop for his inhaler was beyond mortifying. If he could keep it a secret, he could just use it after. That was a terrible plan, but it was the one Harry was going to go with.

Liam’s attention switched from Harry’s chest to his neck. Harry’s breaths were raw and raspy as Liam trailed kisses along his windpipe.

Harry turned his head to the side to give Liam a better angle, but also to hide the wince that he couldn’t hold back. He couldn’t force in more than a sliver of air and his throat was starting to burn.

Liam trailed his hand along Harry’s chest and Harry’s eyes shut tighter. His lungs burned for a vital breath of air, but Harry pushed through the pain as he focused on Liam.

Harry’s body started to tremble from the lack of oxygen, but Liam misread the reaction and attacked his neck more forcefully.

Harry wanted so badly to enjoy this, but he was starting to feel lightheaded. He whispered a strained, “Liam…”, but the “help” was trapped in his throat.

Liam smiled at Harry saying his name and moved his kisses to Harry’s lips. Harry’s body tensed in panic and his eyes shot open. He tried to speak, but the words wouldn’t come out. His green eyes doubled in size, trying to silently plead with Liam for help, but Liam’s eyes were closed and his mind was blissfully preoccupied.

Harry tried to move, but his body was paralyzed with exhaustion. Everything felt slow and heavy and keeping his eyes open was becoming impossible.

He felt his airway give a final snap as it shut closed and Liam’s happy moans turned into a loud ringing in Harry’s ears.

Liam put a hand behind Harry’s head to draw the kiss in further, but he noticed that Harry had gone limp in his grip. Liam laughed against Harry’s lips. “I’m a generous man, but I’m not going to do all the work mate.”

Harry didn’t respond and Liam suddenly realized how cold Harry’s lips had become. Liam squinted his eyes open and saw the boy’s eyes rolling back into his head.

Liam’s panicked eyes shot open and he pulled out of the kiss so quickly that Harry’s unsupported head rocked forward.

Liam gasped. “Oh my God! Harry! What – what’s happening?”

Harry screamed in his head. “Help me”. Unfortunately he didn’t have the air in his lungs to voice that plea.

Harry summed up all of the strength that he had to focus on lifting his arm. The limb felt heavier than lead as he forced his shaking hand to his throat.

Liam recognized this as the universal sign for ‘I can’t breathe’, and horrified realization shot to his face.

“Your inhaler. You need you inhaler.”

Harry felt a sense of relief that Liam was going to take care of his. He gave in to the exhaustion and slumped forward, falling into Liam’s arms.

Liam swept Harry off of the counter, not even breaking a sweat after Harry had become dead weight. Liam felt his arms shaking as he held Harry in his arms. As he held Harry, his mind flashed back to the moment that they first confessed their feelings to each other.

 

_Harry had been unusually quiet after the concert and retreated to his hotel room alone. He was known for his high energy after a show, so this was extremely out of character._

_Liam stared down at his phone and the ten unanswered texts that he sent to Harry. This was enough to lift him off of his bed and head over to Harry’s room._

_The hotel door was locked, but Liam had Harry’s spare key. The boys always did this in case someone was in trouble. Liam had all the spare keys and Louis had his. Louis wasn’t the most responsible person in the world, but Liam had relied on him during an emergency or two._

_Liam swiped the card across the reader quickly, but walked in slowly. It was completely in the realm of possibilities that he was overreacting and Harry was getting one off with a random girl… or guy. Liam had one or two non-shocking conversations with Harry about his bisexuality. The shock was when Liam had let it slip that he was gay during one of those conversations._

_Liam raised his voice. He wanted his voice to be the first thing that reached Harry’s room before his eyes. “Hazza? You ok, lad? I was worried about you, but if you’re busy - .”_

_Liam’s awkward conversation was interrupted with the sound of crying from the bathroom._

_Liam walked to the closed door and pushed it open slowly. Harry was on the floor with his knees pulled to his chest, crying softly._

_Liam knelt down next to him and gently rubbed Harry’s back. “Tell me what’s got you upset.”_

_Harry sniffed. “I sounded terrible tonight. Everybody knows that I have a cold and my voice isn’t 100%, but I hate when I mess up. My voice cracked so bad during one of the songs. You had to finish the verse for me.”_

_Liam smiled. “I didn’t mind doing that.”_

_Harry wiped away a tear. “You have your own solos to worry about, and all the extra parts to cover for Zayn. You don’t need my problems too.”_

_Liam couldn’t help the next sentence that slipped out. “That’s what you do for the guy you care about.”_

_Harry’s voice cracked. “Liam…”_

_Liam nodded._

_The two sat in silence. Harry was the first to break it with a blush, hoping his voice wouldn’t crack again. “The voice cracking seems to be a chronic thing with me.”_

_Liam smiled. “Well, I guess I have to be here to cover for you.”_

_Harry bit his lip. “You know the words when it comes to songs, but you don’t know what I’m going to say when it comes to real life.”_

_Liam blinked slowly. “I’m hoping you’ll say you care about me too.”_

_Harry wiped away another tear. “You have to know that I do. I make it pretty obvious.”_

_Liam nodded. “I may have picked up on a thing or two.”_

_Harry leaned his head on Liam’s shoulder. “Do we have to do something special to like, become boyfriends or something? I’ve never had a boyfriend before.”_

_Liam smiled. “Since I’m your first, I’d advise against throwing you down on the bathroom floor and having my way with you. Let’s take it slow. We can start our relationship off with a promise to each other.”_

_Harry nodded against Liam’s shoulder. “I like that. I, Harry Edward Styles, promise to never break your heart and to be loyal and honest.”_

_Liam wiped away one of Harry’s lingering tears. “And I Liam Payne, promise to always sing your parts when you can’t. In all things, I promise to be your strength and your security.”_

 

Liam took a deep breath as he let that first promise steady his shaking arms and carry Harry into the bathroom.

He put his Harry on the floor, propped up against the bathtub. He rummaged through the medicine cabinet hoping that Harry was organized enough to keep a backup inhaler in there. Harry was beyond speaking at this point so Liam had to hope his instincts were correct.

Liam shoved Band-Aids and shaving cream out of the cabinet as he clawed his way through the random things in the medicine cabinet that were useless in the quest to heal Harry.

Liam’s fingers found the inhaler before his eyes did. He gripped the white, plastic, breath of life and threw himself across the room to land in front of Harry.

He put the inhaler in Harry’s mouth and shook him. “You have to open your eyes, Love. You have to breathe this in when I push it.”

Harry’s green eyes blinked over to shift to his strength and security. He squinted a bit, showing signs of life, and Liam nodded. “Ok. Stay with me, Harry.”

Liam’s thumb pushed down, dispensing the puff of medicine, and Harry tried as best as he could to breathe it in. A deep breath was impossible, so a small amount of the medicine traveled to his lungs.

That was enough to make Harry cough as his constricted airway loosened up. Harry was lucid enough to nod at Liam and Liam pushed the inhaler again.

This time Harry was able to take a deeper breath and his lungs burned with the rush of air that filled them.

The rush of air and medicine made Harry’s whole body shake, but Liam was there to hold him tight. To hold him together.

Liam scooted Harry between his legs so Harry was resting on his chest. Harry’s breathing was still a little unsteady so Liam held one arm around Harry and reached the other arm up to turn on the shower.

It didn’t take long for the warm steam of the shower to fill the room and fill Harry’s lungs.

Liam slowly rocked Harry. This was meant to slow down Harry’s racing heart, but it was necessary for Liam’s as well.

Harry mumbled. “Don’t … wanna go… to the… hospital Li.”

Liam shushed him. “Shhh. It’s going to be alright. I’m here with you now and I’ll be there with you if you have to go.”

Harry blinked. “Promise?”

Liam smiled. “It’s the least I can do. My kiss almost killed you.”

Harry gave Liam a sleepy grin. “I would have died a happy man.”

Liam winced. “That’s more morbid than romantic.”

Harry frowned. “ _You’re_ more morbid than romantic.”

Liam continued to rub Harry’s chest until his green eyes started to disappear behind his eyelids.

Harry hummed softly as he drifted off to sleep. “Cause it's you…. Oh it's you… It's you they add up to… And I'm in love with you…”

Harry drifted away as Liam finished the song. “…and all your little things.”

 

**Author's Note:**

> I'm in love with hero Liam. This story had to be written :D


End file.
